A middle aged Vietmanese woman and her unfaithful husband come terms. But exactly whose terms will they be?

The Unfaithful Husband
By Kira Pirofski BA,MA
A middle aged Vietnamese woman and her unfaithful husband finally come
to terms. But whose terms will they be?
Tran looked at the phone intently, as if by sheer concentration she
could make it ring. “Just one call to let me know he is okay, that is
all I ask,” she whispered silently. Even this was too much to ask of
Sam, her husband of 20 years.
On Fathers Day, he had called her and told her he wouldn't be coming
home. When he finally returned to her, he criticized her constantly;
he complained about her cooking, and picked on her spending habits.
And he fooled around with other women.
At first Tran believed that it was just a matter of time before he came
to his senses. “He is just having a mid life crisis,” she reassured
herself. “Sam is a good man; he really loves the kids and me.”
In her heart, she knew it was over.
The reason was not his age. Sam had become unfaithful when Tran
enrolled at the local university. Every time she returned from class,
he picked a fight. And every time she worked on an assignment for
school, he went out with another woman.
Her dreams of accomplishment and independence shook this uneducated
contractor to his core. He didn't want an educated wife, he wanted a
wife who cooked and cleaned and waited on him. It angered and scared
him that she wanted to get a degree in accounting.
“Finally!” Tran picked up the phone after one short ring. “So you are
not coming home this evening? Can I ask who you are with tonight?
Never mind, forget it... goodbye.”
Three days later, Sam came home with a young woman. He packed a bag,
and left Tran.
Then the bills began to arrive. Sam and his girlfriend were on a buying
spree, and they were charging it all to Tran.
Tran silently paid the bills. Eventually she ran out of money.
Initially, Tran did not know what to do. Her parents were poor, and
still lived in Vietnam. Sam's parents, Caucasians, had never approved
of her. The only ones she could rely on were her kids. Daniel and
Esther rallied behind their mom, but they were young, and could not
help with the finances.
Tran concocted a plan. It involved a young man in her economics class,
who was in her section. One day after class, she nervously asked to
meet him at the local café.
“Mike” she began hesitantly, “I have a proposition to make, and it could
be a solution to your problems in school.”
Mike was a mediocre student who rarely went to class, and was on the
verge of failing. He had know for some time that Tran was the best
student in the class, and vied to be in her groups so that he could be
assured on a passing grade.
“Sure Tran, what is it? What is your proposition?” Mike inquired. He
wondered what this 43 year old woman could be proposing to him. Her odd
mixture of fear and confidence, toughness and vulnerability intrigued
him. He was all ears.
“If you will pay me $30.00 an hour, I will write your all of your papers
and complete all of your take home tests.” Tran blushed; she was
embarrassed, and realized that maybe he did not care if he was flunking
out. Not everyone was as serious about school as Tran.
Mike began to laugh so uncontrollably that Tran felt like a complete
fool. Not only was he laughing, he was nearly crying. He clutched her
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